[ Michigan ] It has long been recognised that burning forests release more than carbon, as the cocktail of chemicals absorbed by the trees as they grow is set free as they are consumed by fire. But new research at the University of Michigan suggests that the role of forest fires has been underplayed when estimating the levels of toxic mercury levels, with wildfires responsible for about a quarter of the mercury released into the atmosphere in the US . The study has implications for forest management and global mercury pollution and was published in the January edition of science journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles.

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